Self-resister exercising device



W. H. HUTTER. SELF RESISTER EXERCISING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28,1919.

Patented Mar. 22,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

w. H. HUTTER.

SELF RESISTEREXERCISING DEVICE APPLICATION men mu! 28| l9l9.

Patented Mar. 22,1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- a Z x\\\ '7 aeae aaeeoo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HASTING'S HUTTER, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS.

:SELF-RESIS'IER EXERCISIN Gr DEVICE.

r0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, l VILLIAM H. Hn'r'rnn, a citizen of the United States, IGSldlH" at Evanston, in the county of Cook and state of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Resister Ex tension according to his desires and ability without any adjustment of parts; to provide mechanism whereby the user can readily determine how much tension he, is placing on the flexible 1 member; to provide means for readily interchanging certain elements on which the user exerts a pull in use, to enable him to utilize the device for exercising different portions of his anatomy; to provide improved means for adjusting the length of the flexible tension cord; to enable the user to make'one portion of his body serve asa resistance against which another portion thereof acts.

The above and other features inherent in this invention will become apparent from the detailed description following, when taken in connection with the annexed drawings,

which description and drawings are in tended as illustrative only and not as liinlting apphcants invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device in operative position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of -a head, neck, or body engaging loop.

Fig. 3 IS an enlarged perspective view of.

the rope adjusting means.

Fig. 4: is a perspective view partly in sec tion and partly broken away. i.

Fig. is a detail section of the platform andparts connected therewith.

Fig.6 is a plan view of the lever used inmy device, together with parts connected thereto.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the.

device comprises a platform P, force applythrough one face thereof, as the protecting ring 8 and j The ing means F, tension transmitting and in-' dicating mechanism T, and a head, or body engaging element orloop r I The platform P comprises upper and lower plate members 1 and 2 of rectangular or other form, connected at their edges side strips 3 and end strips 4 and 5, or they a single strip or a may be connected by plurality of strips, suitably joined, if the platform is made circular or of similar form. The upper surface of the platform 18 shown providedivith a sheet of rubber or other suitable means 6 for person from slipping when standingon the platform. The platform has an opening 7 top or one edge member, a perforated finishing and wear-resisting member 8, secured to the platformstructureby any suitable means such as screws. In the device as I have illustrated it, I

preferably use rubber for plate 6, metal for wood for the remainder of the structure thus far de 'aibed, but other materials may be used if desired.

The force applying means comprises a flexible element such as a rope, wire, chain, or other analogous connecting means 9 and a pair of handles 10 and 11, theformer of which handles is connected adjustably and the latter removably to the flexible element. structure of these. handles and their connection to. the flexible element are obviousfrorn the drawing, said handles com prising wire frames carrying wooden or analogous grips,.the handle 11 having a single eye for atachment of rope 9, and the handle 10 having two such eyeslQ and 13. The rope 9 passes from the fasten ng means connected to handle 11 through a friction reducing means such as pulleylt, to and through eye 12, over a bar 15 slidably Specification of Letters Patent. Patented lu 22 1921 Application filed l uly 28, 1919. Serial No. 313,840.

preventing the which may be surrounded by mounted on the 'frameof the handle ll thenunder this bar and through eyef13. The purpose of this structure is to provlde easy adjustment for the lengthof the rope and means for securely holding the same in adjusted position. j

The element H, which is adapted to be substituted for handle 11, is preferably con structed of woven goods, such as khaki, reinforced with leather at the narrow part 16 and wide part 17, and suitably edged with binding as shown; however, other suit able material may be used if desired. Ring 18 is held in place on the narrow part by suitable stitching. This element, which I will call the neck-loop, may be substituted for handle 11 by disconnecting the latter from the attaching means on'the end of rope 9 and attaching ring 18, thereto. This ring may be. of metal as shown, or of any other suitable material, and may be circular,

flattened at one side, or of other desired member 21, which may be a chain, rope, or

other suitable device. Member 21 passes over the pulley 22 supported on brackets 23 (suitably attachedto the platform by screws or thelike') and through opening 7, beingattached at its end 'to friction reducing device 14, which'is shown as a swivel pulley. A

' bracket 24: carries a suitable pivot point for the fulcrum of lever and is attached in any convenient manner, as by screws, to an I inner face of the platform. Lever 20 is preferably a lever of the first class, as shown, but it might be either second or third class if desired. Chain 21 is shown connected to lever 20 by a yoke member and a screw threaded. member having an eye in one end and its threaded end screwed into the yoke m'ember and held in adjusted position theremanner.

in by alock nut. It is of course understood that spring-19 is not a necessary element and may be dispensed with if desired.

Attached to a point on lever 20, preferably the point of greatest motion when the device isin operation, is a flexible member such as wire 25, which passes into and through a flexible tube 26. This latter may be an ordinary flexible metallic tube, such as used for gas tubing, and serves to keep undesirable bends and kinks from forming in wire 25., One end ofthis tube is held in place within the platform P by means of the metal cleat 27 or other suitable device.

The above described tube and wire are connected at their remaining ends to the tension indicating device 28, which comprisesa sort'of box 29, an indicator 30 and a spring or other resilient device 31 connected as shown or in other appropriate Indicator 30 has an index 30' thereon cooperating. with the scale on box 29. As shown, the wire 25 is connected to indicator 30, and spring 31 has its ends connected respectively to the indicator and a screw eye 32, which also assists in keeping a hinged back 33 of the box closed and serves as a point of attachment for the suspending hook or loop 341, which in conjunction with eye 32 prevents back 33 from opening.

The scale may be calibrated by connecting handle 10 or 11 to a fixed support, and applying to the other of these handles a known force, which will cause extension of spring 19 and will cause the index 30 to move down along the face of box 29. An appropriate mark may then be placed on the face of this box to indicate the amount of tension used. Another force of greater or lesser value may then be applied to the handle, which will cause a different amount of motion of the index, and a corresponding scale line will be placed upon the face of the box. This should be carried on until the desired number of scale marks are placed upon the face of the box.

In operation the user will stand upon the platform and having adjusted the length of rope 9 to his needs for the particular exercise which he wishes to take, he will exert a pull upon both handles until the index moves over the scale to such point as indicates the amount of force which he wishes to use. He will thereupon move one hand, if he is using his hands, toward the platform and move the other hand away from said platform, at the same time maintaining the index upon the scale at a constant point, as nearly as may be convenient. In this manner, he will balance the force exerted by one portion of the body against that exerted by another portion thereof and each will serve as a resistance to the other.

If the user desires to exercise more especially the muscles of the neck or a portion of the back, he may remove handle 11 and substitute therefor the head loop H, placing this over the head, neck, or back, and carrying out any exercise considered desirable. I desire in this connection to emphasize the fact that this device enables the user to act as his own resister while at the same time enabling him to exert a known and variable force against a resilient resistance.

I have suggested several variations of form, materials, orstructure merely as illustrations of some, but not all of the ways in which departure may be made from the preferred form without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. An exercising device of the class described, comprising a platform, variabletension transmitting and indicating means connected therewith including a resilient member within the platform, and force ap plying means connected with a part of the tension transmitting means whereby force exerted by a user of the device may be impressed upon the tension transmitting means and thereby transmitted to the indicator there being means independent of the tension transmitting means for operating the indicator.

2. An exercising device of the class de scribed, comprising a platform, variabletension transmitting and indicating means connected therewith, and force applying means connected with a part of the tension transmitting means whereby. force exerted by a user of the device may be impressed upon the tension transmitting means and thereby transmitted to the indicator, the said variable-tension indicating means comprising an index carrying member, a supporting member along which the index carrying member is longitudinally movable in accordance with the amount of force exerted on the force applying means,

and also comprising means for returning the said index carrying member to its initial position, means to connect the said member to the tension transmitting means, and means for returning the tension transmitting means to normal position.

3. An exercising device of the class described, comprising a platform, variabletension transmitting and indicating means connected therewith, a resilient member adapted to be put under stress by applied force, and force applying means connected with a part of the tension transmitting means whereby force exerted by a user of the device may be impressed upon the tension transmitting meansand thereby transmitted to the indicator, the said tension transmitting means comprising a flexible element connected at one endto the force applying means, connecting means between the flexible and resilient members, and a connection therefrom to the indicator.

4:. An exercising device of the class'described, comprising a platform, variabletension transmitting and indicating means connected therewith, a resilient element having one end connected to the platform,and force applying means connected with a part of the tension transmitting means whereby force exerted by a user of the device may be impressed upon the tension transmitting means and thereby transmitted to the inclicator, the said tension transmitting means comprising a lever having a pivot connected to the platform, a second point of the said lever being connected to the said resilient element and a third point of the lever being connected by a flexible member with the force applying means, there being a connecting element between the indicator'and the lever.

5. An exercising device of the class described, comprising a platform, variabletension transmitting and indicating means connected therewith, and force applying means connected with a part of the tension transmitting means whereby force exerted by a user of the device may be impressed upon the tension transmitting means and thereby transmitted to the indicator, the

said force applying means comprising a flexible element and a pair of handles connected thereto, one of said handles being ads justable along the length ofithe flexible element, the saidtension transmitting means comprising. a flexible element connected at i one end to the force applying means, a re silient member adapted to be put under stress by applied force, connecting means between the flexible and resilient members, and connection therefrom to the indicator, whereby in use the user may apply physical force to a somewhat yielding resistance and keep the same substantially constant while balancing the force of one part of the body against that of another.

6. An exercisingdevice of the class described comprising a platform, variable-tension transmitting and indicating means con nected therewith, a force applying means connected with a part of the tension transmitting means whereby force exerted by a user of the device may be impressed upon the tension transmitting means and thereby transmitted to the indicator, the said force applying means comprising a flexible element, and a pair of handles connected thereto, one of the handles being replaceable by a head loop whereby the force exerted by the muscles of the neck and back may resist and act against the force exerted by one or both of the arms.

7, A- unitary exercising device of the class described, comprising a platform, variable-tension transmitting and indicating 100 means connected therewith, and force applyingmeans connected with a part of the tension transmitting means whereby force exerted by a user of the device may be impressed upon the tension transmitting means 105 and thereby transmitted to the indicator, the said force applying means comprising a handle, a head loop and a flexible member connecting these elements to the tension transmitting means.

8. A handle for self-resister exercising machine having a flexible force applying member adapted to be drawn over a friction reducing means by bodily force of the user, comprising a frame, a grip, and a cross bar 115 adjustably mounted on the side bars of the frame, said frame having a bar connecting the side bars, said last named bar having eyes through which the flexible member be threaded to provide for adjusting the L20 length thereof.

9. A variable tension mechanism for a self-resister exercising machine having a platform and mechanism for balancing a force exerted by one part of the body against 125 that produced by another part, comprising a lever having its pivotal point connected to the platform, a resilient means connected to another point on the lever and having another point fixed to the platform, and flexi- 130 ble means connected at one end to a third point on the lever having its other end portion connected to a force applying means, said platform being provided with friction 5 reducing I means over which the flexible means passes for connection to the force applying means.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HASTINGS HUTTER.

Vitnesses:

A. C. Lnxow, R. L. OLSEN. 

